A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

After much thought, Yang Guang tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He got out of bed and opened the map again.

Since we cannot continue building the canal westward, we must build the railway there, at all costs.

Moreover, within China, Yang Guang was famous for gesturing with his fingers across the entire map of the Sui Dynasty.

It is not enough to build only two railways in the east, west, north, and south; I must ensure that the railway passes through every prefecture and county of the Sui Dynasty.

Allow my army to travel by rail to any prefecture or county at any time to quell the rebellion.

"I need iron, countless iron."

The following day, Yang Guang publicly announced at the grand court assembly that he would conscript laborers to mine iron ore.

The courtiers all tried to dissuade him, and even Yang Guang's confidants stood up to stop him.

There was no other way; Emperor Yang Guang had too many corvée laborers to conscript.

He actually wants to conscript 500 million laborers to mine iron ore! Is this something a human being would do?!

The Sui Dynasty could afford to provide 500 million laborers, but it was also undertaking a railway project that already required a large amount of manpower. Providing another 500 million laborers to mine iron ore would mean 500 million people were displaced from agriculture, pushing the nation to its limits.

However, one person stood up to agree, and that person was Yuwen Huaji.

He keenly realized that this was a good opportunity for him to gain Yang Guang's favor.

Even if this move offends court officials and makes everyone think he is a opportunist.

But he didn't care. He just wanted to use this opportunity to climb the ranks and become Yang Guang's confidant. In the future, he might become the powerful Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, the de facto prime minister of the Sui Dynasty.

Hearing that someone supported him, Yang Guang's eyes lit up, and he immediately made the decision: "This matter is settled. Let's talk about the next matter: opening the Grand Canal between the North and the South."

"This Grand Canal starts in Nanjing, passes through Hangzhou, and ends in Luoyang."

"The northern section starts from Luoyang, passes through Beiping County, and extends to the grasslands, with a total length of 3500 kilometers. We can utilize the waterways built by the previous dynasty, and the remaining 2800 kilometers need to be constructed."

"I am prepared to mobilize another 500 million laborers to build this Grand Canal nearby."

The faces of the courtiers turned pale.

Even Yuwen Huaji was speechless.

If the conscription of laborers were carried out in the same way that Yang Guang did, it would definitely trigger an uprising.

The powerful families wouldn't let this opportunity pass. When the emperor was in a fit of rage, he would surely be dragged out and killed by Yang Guang as a sacrifice to the flag.

He wanted to climb the social ladder, but he didn't want to die.

But his agreement had already put him in a difficult position, and seeing that everyone was against it, Yang Guang turned his attention to him.

All the ministers' gazes followed Yang Guang's and fell on his shoulder. At that moment, he deeply felt what it meant to be weighed down by a gaze.

Yuwen Huaji felt like he'd just eaten a giant punch; if he said yes, the officials and the boiling public opinion would tear him apart.

As he walked the streets of Luoyang in the future, he had no doubt that a righteous man would rush up and kill him. This righteous man would become the fifth great assassin, just like the four great assassins of the pre-Qin period, and would be famous throughout the world and leave his mark on history.

But if he said no, then he would undoubtedly be betraying Yang Guang.

Given his current position as the Crown Prince's Vice Minister, he has already offended the court officials. If Yang Guang wanted to kill him, none of the officials would stop him.

Now, Yuwen Huaji is at a crossroads. On one side is a sheer cliff, and on the other is an endless deep sea. There is no way out.

Yuwen Huaji truly lived up to his reputation as a future powerful minister and the gravedigger of the Sui Dynasty. At the critical moment, he had a flash of inspiration and fainted on the spot.

What's even more surprising is that he wasn't faking it; he was genuinely dizzy.

He knew very well that if he was faking fainting, he would definitely not be able to fool Yang Guang.

But he didn't expect that Yang Guang was even more ruthless than he imagined.

Yang Guang immediately summoned the imperial physician, who treated him on the spot, and then continued to question him.

After he woke up, Yang Guang continued to question him, and had the imperial physician stand next to him. Whenever he fainted, the imperial physician would wake him up. Yuwen Huaji was completely numb.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the nation's population and taxes. The Minister of Revenue knows best how many people there are in the country today, and how many are required to perform military service."

"Why not have the Minister of Civil Affairs explain it to everyone first?"

Yuwen Huaji passed the buck to Yang Wensi, the Minister of Revenue.

(Suddenly I remembered that the Minister of Revenue was there to force Li Shimin to change the taboo name; he was the Minister of Revenue before, but the name had already been changed.)

"Your Majesty, the Great Sui Dynasty now has 39.75 million households and a population of 196 million."

"Currently, the entire empire can mobilize 10 million people. 5.6 million are already scattered throughout the country mining and railway construction. Your Majesty wants to conscript another 5 million to increase investment in mining. There are simply no more people available."

Minister of Revenue Yang Wensi glared at Yuwen Huaji, then reluctantly stepped forward and answered Yang Guang.

"Oh~"

"Our Great Sui Dynasty has a population of nearly 200 million, how come we can only spare a mere 10 million?"

"It seems there is still great potential to be tapped. Hmm, let's allocate another 500 million people to build the Grand Canal."

"There are only 1500 million people here. The palace is still the same one that existed during the Great Qian Dynasty. It is now somewhat dilapidated."

"Now that a new dynasty has been established, we should build a grand palace to demonstrate the prestige of our divine empire."

"I will conscript another million people to build the Daxing Palace. I will make the Daxing Palace the most magnificent palace in the world."

"Minister of Rites, you should look through the historical records. It absolutely cannot be inferior to the Epang Palace of Qin Shi Huang."

"Let's leave it at that for now. We'll talk about it again when I remember something else."

Minister of Revenue Yang Wensi's face turned pale. "Your Majesty, drawing so much manpower will cause unrest throughout the land, and the national treasury cannot support it!"

"The national treasury? What does that have to do with the national treasury?"

Yang Guang asked in confusion.

"You mean those lowly people? I give them work and food, they should be grateful to me."

"Let them bring half of their own rations, and the imperial court will only provide the other half. Wouldn't that keep the national treasury afloat?"

Yang Guang's words shocked the entire court.

They then understood that Yang Guang was not only conscripting manpower, but also levying corvée labor.

The kind that's free of charge, and not only that, you also have to bring your own dry food.

The Minister of Rites, who was most familiar with historical records, immediately recalled when this event would have occurred.

According to historical records, it seems to have occurred before Emperor Wen of Han.

Since the rise of the Wei family, they had improved their breeds, and Emperor Wen of Han was a benevolent emperor who set a precedent by subsidizing people who participated in corvée labor.

Since then, even the most despicable emperors would at least give a token amount when conscripting laborers.

Judging from Yang Guang's words, he not only did not intend to provide subsidies, but he also intended to cut back on their meals, requiring them to bring their own dry rations.

Is this something a human being could do?